Dan Boren is the first Democratic member of Congress Public Policy
Polling has found with an approval rating over 50% since last October, and because of
that he holds a solid lead over all of his potential Republican challengers for this fall’s
election.
51% of his constituents approve of Boren with 33% disapproving and 17% holding no
opinion. His approval with Republicans is a positive 47/38 spread, very unusual for a
Democratic politician these days. He actually has lower than usual numbers within his
own party at 55/27 and he’s on slightly negative ground with independents at 40/43,
reflecting the fact that independents don’t like any politicians right now.
Boren leads his Republican opponents by anywhere from 16 to 27 points, with birther
candidate Miki Booth getting 7-8% in each match up. At this point Daniel Edmonds
comes the closest to Boren, trailing 44-28. Charles Thompson is down 45-25, Howard
Houchen trails 48-26, and Dan Arnett has a 49-22 deficit.
None of the Republican candidates are particularly well known at this point and it’s
certainly possible that their standing will improve once they have a nominee and start
becoming better known. Edmonds has 21% name recognition, Thompson has 20%,
Arnett’s is 19%, and Houchen’s is 18%.
Boren remains popular but his national party certainly isn’t. Barack Obama’s approval in
the district is only 27% and just 17% of voters support the Democratic health care bill
that Boren opposed in November.
“A lot of Democrats in McCain districts are in big trouble this year but Dan Boren’s
doing alright,” said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling. “He looks safe.”
http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/pdf/PPP_Release_OK_303.pdf
